A Principal's Reflections
FEBRUARY 12, 2014
'I recently read this Education Week post by Jill Berkowicz and Ann Myers titled We Have 21st Century Learners Who Need 21st Century Leaders. I couldn''t agree more. They go on the summarize the following: "Essentially, the 21st century leader has to develop a renewed understanding of how children are learning now. It isn''t about using technology because it exists.
Tom Murray
FEBRUARY 10, 2014
' As part of the 3rd annual Digital Learning Day, educational leaders from all over country descended upon the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. on February 5th. I had the honor of participating in a live panel ("Digital Learning: The Journey So Far") with former Governor Bob Wise, now the President for the Alliance for Excellent Education, and Mrs.
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The Web20Classroom
FEBRUARY 2, 2014
'Digital Learning Day is coming Feb 5. Here is what you need to know. What: Digital Learning Day is a nationwide celebration of innovative teachers and common-sense, effective applications of digital learning in America’s schools that support teachers, improve learning, and provide options for students to achieve at their highest potential. Digital Learning Day materials and resources support educators at all levels as they navigate the shift to more robust digital learning environments to achie
Educational Technology Guy
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
'Doodle 4 Google is a great project for students. They get to be creative and get a chance to win a scholarship. The theme this year, "If I could invent one thing to make the world a better place…” is all about curiosity, possibility and imagination. Here''s information from the official release: Creating the best doodle comes with major perks: this year—for the first time ever—the winner of the competition will become an honorary Google Doodler for a day and animate his or her Doodle for the ho
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Baker's B.Y.O.D.
FEBRUARY 8, 2014
'Edmodo''s quiz feature is a versatile tool that saves teachers time. Whether used for quick informational checks or unit tests, the quiz feature enables teachers to assign formative and summative assessments with ease. I use Edmodo Quizzes for assessing students'' knowledge acquisition, practicing PARCC related digital literacy skills, and demonstrating students'' application of knowledge learned through out the marking period.
The 21st Century Principal
FEBRUARY 23, 2014
'School leaders and policymakers have a serious misperception about the role and job of teaching that undermines teaching as a profession and perpetuates the view that the role of teaching is akin to being an assembly-line worker. It is no wonder American politicians, policymakers and corporate reformers have bought wholeheartedly into the idea of value-added teacher evaluations.
EdTech Update brings together the best content for education technology professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
EdTechSandyK
FEBRUARY 9, 2014
'At the 2014 TCEA Convention and Exposition , I presented a concurrent session called Got Twitter? Make it Better! I have presented several workshops over the past few years which introduce folks to using Twitter for professional learning, but have also wanted to share other tips and tools that have made my use of Twitter more productive. So I was excited to get to do just that this year!
The Web20Classroom
FEBRUARY 26, 2014
'I spend a great deal of time on the go. From working with all the schools in my district to traveling to far off lands to work with teachers, I sometimes feel like I am disconnected from my learning. And that bums me out! There are a few apps (and some sites too) that I rely upon to keep me updated with whats happening and to teach a me a thing or two as well.
The Mobile Native
FEBRUARY 17, 2014
'Rube Works is the official Rube Goldberg invention game. This app is quite impressive. It is designed for ages 9 to adult, but my six year old son is able to manipulate the contraptions to solve the puzzles. The game is based on all of the cartoon inventions that Rube Goldberg has made famous. I have used this app within my classroom to promote problem-solving and critical thinking skills that go above and beyond the core curriculum.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
FEBRUARY 15, 2014
'As a work around for not having screencasting capabilities on my Chromebook, I would do a Google Hangout by myself, capture to YouTube, and screenshare to record the screencast. Then I''d have to go back and edit out my initial clicking around to screenshare. While this worked, it was cumbersome and inefficient. I''ve been patiently waiting a Chrome screencasting app that doesn''t use Java, and have instead been using Screencast-o-matic on my school and home computers.
Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape
The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.
The Innovative Educator
FEBRUARY 2, 2014
'Crossposted at Smartblogs Districts across the nation are determining teacher effectiveness in part using a rubric created by Charlotte Danielson. The rubric contains four domains and 22 components. You can download the full evaluation instrument here. The framework below outlines exactly what administrators will look for when evaluating teacher practice.
A Principal's Reflections
FEBRUARY 28, 2014
'People have been using flashcards as a revision aid for decades, but now it is time for learners to step away from their papers and pens, and move towards using internet-based flashcards instead. But why step away from a tried and tested method, and put your faith in something new? The reason that you should give it a go is that there are a number of important reasons why online flashcard systems, such as that which is provided by Cardkiwi , are better than the old-fashioned pen and paper metho
My Paperless Classroom
FEBRUARY 11, 2014
'CLASS NOTES [Here is a lesson using the great Venn Diagram app by the international reading association from readwritethink.org. I had the first graders partner up on an iPad to work together] Today we are going to make a Venn Diagram with this app , But before we get started lets have Wokka Tell us what a Venn Diagram is. You have a set of Frog and Toad facts, on a sheet that looks like this: Open the Venn diagram app by clicking on the link Select a new user Include both partner names select
The Web20Classroom
FEBRUARY 5, 2014
'Yep. MOOC. Massively Open Online Course. Wikipedia defines MOOC as "an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets, MOOCs provide interactive user fora that help build a community for students, professors, and teaching assistants (TAs).
This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.
Kathy Schrock
FEBRUARY 22, 2014
'IPEVO Articulating Video Stand IPEVO has come up with another winning device to help teachers in the classroom-- the IPEVO Articulating Video Stand for iPod and iPod Touch. This useful product holds your iPhone or iPod Touch in a sturdy metal stand to allow you to use your iDevice in any number of ways. The unique holder has springs which enable you to spread the holder open to easily insert the device and then gently release the springs.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
FEBRUARY 22, 2014
'Since chatting with Tom Driscoll via Google Hangout and Brian Germaine at the EdSurge RIDE event in the Fall , meeting up with Chris Aviles at Techspo14 , viewing Mr. Lewis'' Edmodo Webinar on Gamification , and engaging with my #TeamMAITs in class, I''m intrigued by the didactic nature of games. I''ve been thinking about how to use gamification with my students to restructure the learning activities to mimic aspects of a video game that encourage student involvement in the classroom.
The Innovative Educator
FEBRUARY 9, 2014
'Districts across the nation are asking teachers to provide artifacts and evidence of effectiveness aligned to the four domains of the Charlotte Danielson framework. ( You can download the full evaluation instrument here.) This model provides an incredible opportunity to do something that is rare in the teaching profession. It provides an opportunity for teachers to release the great work they are doing from the classroom and share it with the world.
A Principal's Reflections
FEBRUARY 2, 2014
'For over a century, the industrial model of education did a fantastic job of preparing students for careers. Those careers are no longer relevant in today''s rapidly changing world. With obvious remnants of this system still in place, new changes are being pushed through under the guise of education reform. Instead of preparing students for an industrialized world the education system is now being tasked with preparing all learners to be college and career ready in order to compete globally wit
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My Paperless Classroom
FEBRUARY 23, 2014
'This is a quick walk-through of how to use the Green Screen app by Do Ink. We are going to start by clicking on the app: Next we begin a new project by clicking on the "+" in the upper right hand corner. This brings you to the compose window. The layers are at the bottom of the screen. You want to make sure your Camera with the green screen is in the top layer, so when you use the chroma filter to look through the layer you see the images UNDER it.
SpeechTechie
FEBRUARY 3, 2014
'The F in the FIVES Criteria has long since changed from "Free" to "Fairly Priced," but we all love a bargain. One of the best ways to find "finds" is a daily check of the Apps Gone Free app (free). This app, a resource from the terrific App Advice blog and website, lists apps that have "gone" free for a day or so. The apps tend to be of higher quality both because they usually cost some money (not always an indicator of higher quality, admittedly), but also because they need to have a minimum r
The 21st Century Principal
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
'Yesterday, I posted about the many issues we are struggling with North Carolina’s roll-out of the Pearson’s PowerSchool student data system. Today, there was an article of interest on the News and Observer web site entitled “NC Schools Dealing with Problem-Plagued State Computer System.” According to the article, North Carolina is spending $7.1 million dollars implementing PowerSchool this year.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
FEBRUARY 12, 2014
'Confused colleagues will ask me about Twitter: What are those number sign thingies? How do you chat? Do I friend or follow someone? Where do I find people to follow? Hashtags (those number sign # thingies) are used to tag posts and help organize people in a chat. Tagging means to label with a keyword. The number sign provides a visual cue signifying the label.
Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions
There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.
The Innovative Educator
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
'In case you missed it, a 15-year-old student from Staten Island created a Facebook page called Close NYC Schools During Snow Emergencies expressing discontent over the DOE's decision to keep schools open Thursday. The high school student employed some smart strategies to help his page gain popularity. Namely sharing his page on the walls of elected officials.
A Principal's Reflections
FEBRUARY 6, 2014
'The now annual Digital Learning Day was set for Wednesday February 5, 2014. The only problem was that no one told the weather gods this. As a result, the Northeast was once again hit with a huge winter storm, which came on the heels of one earlier in the week that dumped over 8 inches of snow. This monstrosity brought more sleet and ice, which necessitated yet another day off from school.
My Paperless Classroom
FEBRUARY 3, 2014
'Creating a Blogger Page to Use in Class This is a guide to how and why to create a Blogger page to use in class. The key words are access and differentiation. By putting all of the class instructions and resources in the same place you streamline the process for kids and support learners that need instructions in from of them in multiple forms.
SpeechTechie
FEBRUARY 25, 2014
'It''s great to find an app that is focused on a particular skill, but also very contextual. Phrasal Verbs Machine (free) is a gorgeous example dedicated to building understanding of phrasal verbs- a verb paired with a preposition. These are known to be challenging to ESL/ELL populations but also are quite figurative in nature, and so are helpful to target metalinguistics for our more literal thinkers.
Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions
The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.
EdTechSandyK
FEBRUARY 9, 2014
'Notes from TCEA 2014 Legislative Panel 2/4/2014 Notes are summaries of what I understood the panel members and questioners to be saying, and as such should not be taken as direct quotes. Panel Members: Representative Jimmie Don Aycock - Killeen, TX Representative Marsha Farney - Georgetown, Texas Mitzi Neely, Assistant Superintendent at White Oak ISD (Part of High Performing Schools Consortium) Panel Moderator: Jennifer Faulkner, Director of Instructional Technology, Alamo Heights ISD The panel
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
FEBRUARY 13, 2014
'Working in a large school district and being the mom of two girls in elementary school, I''m exposed to numerous germs everyday, and while I know I''ve built up a strong immunity over the years, sometimes I get sidelined with an ailment. Well, for the first time EVER in 15 years of teaching, I have contracted conjunctivitis (aka pink-eye). I will spare you the details, but know that it is gross, hurts, and my eye looks like it could be a zombie extra in a Walking Dead episode.
The Innovative Educator
FEBRUARY 23, 2014
'I was looking forward to checking out this post from my Twitter feed: Students Talk #Facebook on #Vimeo | @scoopit [link] #KSFY #SocialMedia #digcit #edchat #edbublogs — ICTPHMS (@ICTPHMS) February 19, 2014 I'm thrilled that schools like the Patrick Henry Middle School are willing to put themselves out there and share in the mainstream media that Facebook isn't something to be afraid of, but rather we can teach students to use it safely.
A Principal's Reflections
FEBRUARY 17, 2014
'Mrs. Westbrook and Mrs. Morel continue their collaboration to address the Common Core literacy standards within our fine arts program, with the goal of increasing the rigor of the writing assignments across the curriculum. Building on the success of their past work with students writing artist statement''s for exhibition of their work, this semester Explorations in Art students will create photo essays to demonstrate their knowledge of the progression among styles and techniques from ancient to
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